"In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on." -Robert Frost
Let me recap the last week for you so that you might have a glimpse. Monday was Jessica's final orchestra concert at Layton High. Oh, so bittersweet.
Mrs. Smith honored all of her outgoing seniors with a Symphony Bar. She praised Jessica and called her her "kindred spirit" in music.
The final piece was a fun Jimi Hendrix number complete with electric violin. Jessica and her stand partner were the only ones sporting sunglasses for this piece. They tend to have more fun than anyone else. The only reason I wasn't crying is because I know that I'll be back here next year watching Sabrina perform with the orchestra.
"This is my cello sister!" Jessica would say. They will miss each other!
The next morning, Neil got up early to watch Jessica receive a Legion Award over at the high school. She received a legion award in the Artistic category. It's basically like she majored in art stuff in high school. She gets to wear a special medal on graduation day.
That evening, it was Sabrina's turn to receive a major award. (Sorry a certain lamp from Christmas Story comes to mind anytime our family jokes about winning a "major award") Anyway Sabrina received special recognition for being an outstanding student in the MESA program this year. MESA is an after school science program that Sabrina has participated in over the last two years.
Sabrina hates shaking hands, so I was sure to document that long line of educational bureaucrats that she begrudgingly shook hands with, including Miss Black Utah USA.
She did a pretty good job of acting like she was enjoying herself and that she cared about who these smiling administrators were.
We watched video interviews of all of the honored students. Most of them discussed how beneficial MESA was because they now aspire to becoming mechanical engineers and bio-medical engineers. Sabrina wants to be a writer. But hey, who doesn't need another certificate for the ol' scrapbook?
The next evening was the final orchestra concert at the junior high. This was officially the last time I would enjoy a Legacy Junior High orchestra concert. After six years of attending concerts here, I grew a little nostalgic.
Spencer and Sabrina played the theme for Narnia as a little ensemble during the art show. I love that these two have been able to play together this year! I'm so glad that we convinced Spence to join the advanced orchestra. It has been good for him.
This girl is so beautiful, especially when she plays!
And this cute boy poking over the stand is becoming quite a remarkable young man.
I'm so proud of Sabrina. As she stood up as Concert Mistress and led the orchestra in tuning, I thought about when she first picked up that tiny violin at eight years old. She has come so far!
Like I said, beautiful. Staring up to the teacher she adores and will miss tremendously.
There are my kiddos receiving another "major award" for their superior rating in district solo and ensemble festival.
And more Symphony bars, this time for Mrs. Ellery's outgoing 9th graders.
We finished up the concert, and I quickly texted Jess to see if she had played at the high school yet. She texted back that if I hurried I could still catch her. So we threw violins and violas in the back of the car and I drove like the dickens over to the high school. We got there in just enough time to watch Jessica rock the electric cello as accompaniment for the show choir's performance of "Radioactive".
This was fun. So much fun!
You're probably wondering, where was Neil through all of this? Just three days earlier, he had been sustained as the second counselor in our new bishopric. Yes, we've only been in our house for two months. Yes, we only know about 5% of the ward, but there you go. So Neil was in a three hour bishopric meeting while I was flying solo with double booked performances. Who knows where Jonah was that night. It kills Neil to miss his kids' performances. Kills him. I suppose that if Abraham was willing to sacrifice his only son, then perhaps Neil can give up a concert or two.
The next day was Jonah's 5th grade program. I didn't get there my normal three days in advance, so our seats were crummy. Oh well, thank heavens for a zoom lens.
My favorite was the We're Writing the Constitution number, where Jonah and the other "founding fathers" seemed to be deep in deliberation and writing during the whole song. I dubbed Jonah John Adams, because he is my favorite founding father.
That evening, Jessica graduated from seminary. It was a wonderful meeting where the Spirit was in abundance.
We are so proud of this beautiful young woman!
We had to enjoy a celebratory shake at Farr's afterwards. I don't know that my waistline can handle one more celebratory ice cream.
This brings us to yesterday, which was much more relaxed. We took flowers to the graves. I remember how itty bitty this tree was when we buried Dad. Oh, those poignant reminders of the passing of time.
This cemetery is filling far too quickly, and there are far too many young people buried here.
Grandma's grave is still quite fresh. We miss her gentle presence.
Once we had honored our dead, it was time to relish some time with the living. We enjoyed a nice BBQ spread at Mor Mor's house. It seemed to be the first real warm summer night of the year, and we basked in it as did the cousins.
It was a week full of good-byes, new beginnings, and no shortage of major awards. This mama is now ready for a carefree summer.
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